Spinnaker [Distributed: Wednesday, November 15, 2006]

The University of North Florida's fall sports season, according to the coaching staff, conference standings, and over all records, came together in one word: success.

The men's and women's soccer, men's and women's cross country and volleyball teams completed their 2006 seasons, all finishing in the top eight of the Atlantic Sun Conference. The women's cross country team ran to second place of the A-Sun Conference, and the men's team finished fifth. The women's soccer and volleyball squads finished third in the conference.

"This season has been very successful," said Carmen Watley, women's soccer assistant coach. "The team played really well and showed that they can play with any team in the conference."

Volleyball head coach Bryan Bunn agreed.

"I was very proud of the team's performance and the resulting record," he said. The team recorded its 16th winning record for the Ospreys, finishing the season 18-15.

The season was also the best year with fans, according to the men's soccer head coach Ray Bunch.

"We were very fortunate to have lots of students come out to our games. The team really appreciated it."

Closing victories

Each Osprey team recorded wins as the season came to a close, many finishing with back-to-back wins. The men's soccer team defeated Palm Beach Atlantic University 5-0, followed by a final victory over Flagler College 3-1.

"We came back from playing Duke and won every game," Bunch said. "It was rewarding to see how they learned and improved. I've seen tremendous improvement from beginning to end."

The cross country team ended on a high note at the A-Sun Conference Championships, with the women finishing second, after taking first at the Furman Invitational. The men's team recorded its second highest finish of the season, grabbing fifth at the race.

Soaring through the rumble

With the close of the fall seasons, UNF sits well ahead of cross town rival Jacksonville University in the River City Rumble, 5-1. For the volleyball team, this victory was at the top of its season goals.

"We met many of our goals," Bunn said."The team played really well against JU and we beat them twice."

For the women's soccer team, the game was a highlight of the season.

"The match against JU was one of the proudest moments all season," Watley said. "They wanted it so bad and played hard till the end."

The team finished 3-1 to gain the second point of the rumble. The volleyball team took a 3-0 victory over Jacksonville University, followed by a 3-1 win to finish the season.

Farewell seniors

The end of the season brings the end of collegiate careers for many UNF athletes, a fact that the coaches are not looking forward to.

"It will be tough to replace our seniors," Bunn said. "Many of them were four-year or three-year starters. That's experience that is hard to lose. We are going to miss them."

Watley agreed."We had 10 seniors at the end of the season, It is a huge graduating class and a big loss; they provided a lot of leadership on and off the field."

Welcome spring training

Though the season is over, the training continues. The athletes will hit the weights as soon as Winter break is over, if not earlier. For the teams, this will provide a great foundation for the future.

The teams cannot participate in much weight training during the season, for fear of injury. The training season, however, allows time to build up stamina and endurance that will help on the field, according to Bunch.

Ospreys open new rivalry against Gators, fall in first attempt

Offensive struggles hindered the University of North Florida women's basketball team in its season-opener against the Florida Gators.

The Ospreys dropped to 0-1 by a final score of 78-37 before a crowd of 1,107 Nov. 10 at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center in Gainesville.

"We turned the ball over 30 times, shot 25 percent from the field and 46.2 percent from the foul line," said Head Coach Mary Tappmeyer. "You're not going to win many games playing like that."

The Gators allowed 14 turnovers, shot 45.2 percent from the field and nearly 70 percent from the foul line.

North Florida, however, shot a better three-point percentage than their opponents, recording 31.3 over Florida's 27.3.

Senior guard Tamara Hubbard hit the first three-pointer within the first minute of the game to give UNF a 3-0 lead. Hubbard finished the game 2-4 for three-pointers.

Gators forward Marshae Dotson and guard Kim Dye, scored the next nine points for Florida to take an 11-3 lead over the Ospreys.

Sophomore guard Jennifer Bowen answered back with another three-point shot with over 16 minutes remaining in the first half, closing the lead to 11-6.

But they never fully recovered.

The Gators took advantage of the Ospreys' scoring struggles, and ended the first half with a 37-17 lead. The second half brought the same results and resulted in a 41-point lead for Florida.

The team learned about the level of intensity that is needed to play on the Division 1 level, according to Tappmeyer.

"We started out good for the first five minutes and played well for the last five minutes, but we have to maintain that same intensity for 40 minutes," she said.

Hubbard led the Ospreys in scoring with eight points, while Bowen and freshman guard Tiffany Williams followed with five points each.

The Gators had four players with double figures in points, including Dye, who led all players with 13.

North Florida sophomore center, Antoinette Reames, led the game in rebounds, with 11. Jennifer Guldager and freshman Shandrea Moore followed with four rebounds each.

North Florida will suit up again Nov. 17 to compete in the Lancer Tournament against first-round opponent New Jersey Tech at 1 p.m.

Freshman sets university record to lead home meet

The University of North Florida women's swimming and diving team recorded split results in its first home meet of the season.

The team took a win over Florida A&M University, 203-11, but fell to the College of Charleston, 151-91.

The University of New Orleans was also scheduled to compete at the UNF meet, but canceled due to travel difficulties.

For Head Coach Beth Harrell, the meet showcased the change and progress of the Osprey team.

"The freshmen really stepped up," Harrell said. "They did a better job here at home compared to the first meet because they were really nervous then."

Freshman Justine Kane swam into the UNF record books during the meet for the 200-yard butterfly. Kane placed eighth on the record standings with a time of 2:12.90.

Freshman Maria Bianchi captured the win for the 200- yard individual medley at 2:14.17, a finish she was very happy with.

"I was really surprised with my time," Bianchi said. "I dropped three seconds from last week."

Bianchi hopes to break 2:10 by the end of the season.

She was followed in the event by freshman Krissy Harms in third with a time of 2:16.72.

Junior Krysten Nemecek also finished in first, recording a time of 2:27.82 in the 200-yard breaststroke.

Senior swimmer Lindsey McKelvey turned in a third place finish for the Ospreys in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 54.93, a close finish to her personal best time of 54.60 during the Pacific Coast Swimming Championship.

"I knew I had to work on fast turns and breathing for this meet," McKelvey said. "I'm really happy with my times and how close it came to breaking my personal best."

Senior Chelsea Lewis finished hundredths behind McKelvey, with a 54.96 in the event.

As a team, UNF finished second in both relay races, following close behind Charleston in the 400-yard medley relay as well as the 400-yard freestyle relay. UNF finished three seconds behind Charleston in both events.

Although Coach Harrell was satisfied with the results, Harrell knew that the season is still early and that the team is still developing.

"We spent the first month getting the kids in shape," Harrell said. "We needed to create more front end speed for this meet and we had five swimmers who didn't compete for various injuries and regulations. Next semester we should get those five swimmers back."

Fans cheer blue and gray

From the Cheap Seats

Drama of college football

The "Bitter Cry of (No. 3 school) Scandal" has reared its ugly head again in college football.

The annual soap opera drama of who deserves to play for the national championship, and who got hosed is about as predictable as professional wrestling.

The obvious solution is to convert to a playoff format, but the stakeholders that make profits from the current system are hanging on for all they're worth.

What's ironic is that if a playoff system were to occur, there would be more combined revenue than ever dreamed of.

I'm inclined to think that an NCAA football tournament would eventually exceed the popularity of the current NCAA basketball tournament, which is simply outstanding.

I love the fact that we have four undefeated teams this late in the season, for it emphasizes the need for a change.

You can't convince me that Rutgers or even Boise State don't deserve a chance to compete with the big boys.

George Mason proved last year that everyone deserves a shot. The "bigger and better" conferences have just as many "automatic" wins in the lower tiers as everyone else.

Where was the outcry when Ohio State struggled against Illinois? What about Michigan being tested by Ball State, a team that's not even at the top of the MAC?

The ACC has their Dukes, the SEC has their Mississippi schools; the Big 10, the Big 12 and the PAC 10 all have their warts.

It's gotten to the point where a good program is better off being idle in a week rather than playing a lesser game.

While the computer formulas used to rank teams are logical, they are flawed when comparing the intangibles and human element.

There are simply some things in sports that cannot be quantified.

Everyone disagrees, the BCS did not live up to expectations, and so we need a new system; a playoff format doesn't even have to be 64 teams, it could be simply 16.

Take the six conference winners and 10 at-large bids, and everybody should be happy.

Yes, some schools would still be left out, but it's better than what we have now.

The current bowl sites would still be used as regional sites, very similar to basketball.

The championship location can still rotate, as it does now. The computers and polls would still determine rankings through criteria such as record, strength of schedule, etc., and from the rankings seeding would be determined.

Does this sound ridiculously easy to anyone else?

Not only would this create more post-season excitement, it would also decrease the ever growing number of insignificant bowls.

Most bowl opponents are not even picked based on the success of their season, but by which school's fans travel better (ensuring a full stadium).

That just makes cents, but not sense.

There is simply no valid rationale as to why there is not a playoff in Division I-A college football.

All the arguments against it are contradicted by the fact that a successful playoff system works for Division II.

For the good of the game, just "Git-R-Done!"

Disclaimer: The opinions offered here do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the university or its Athletics Dept.

Print Edition

SPORTS

Ospreys open new rivalry against Gators, fall in first attempt

Freshman sets university record to lead home meet

Fans cheer blue and gray

From the Cheap Seats

Drama of college football

Sports in Brief

Tennis completes fall schedule with wins at UNF Invitational

Flight Schedule

Osprey Scoreboard